So, apparently for the entire duration of ARENA TOUR 2009, Ayu had used Kaoru Abe as her drummer instead of the usual Nobuo Eguchi. I'm not really sure why, but I guess Nobuo might've been sick or had other commitments.
Kaoru Abe was also Ayu's drummer during DOME TOUR 2001, so it had been around 8 years since he last worked with her....
Note: Nobuo Eguchi was her drummer at a-nation '09 and CDL09-10, so it's not like he's gone, haha. However, Nobuo was not at a few You were... performances during December, and Kaoru was there instead.
Anyway, go to the following link to look at his entry about the last NEXT LEVEL performance.
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/k-abe_0111/e/2...22e1dccea8ac55
He also has a tag for all of his Ayu related (not necessarily with Ayu in them, but about his journey with Ayu's entourage) entries (84 of them + many photos) so check those out too at the link if you'd like to see them!
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/k-abe_0111/c/0...cff4d2a6682cde
It's very interesting imo to have a staff member take so many pictures from behind the scenes... usually her band doesn't do this kind of thing.